Three paths to one destination

Much has changed in two years for Bulldog trio

Mississippi State running back Christian Ducre was at Tulane when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. His family's home was devastated by the storm.

Ed Reinke/Associated Press

Perhaps Tim Bailey will think about it when he stares at his AutoZone Liberty Bowl watch.

Maybe it will cross Christian Ducre's mind when he's walking off the practice field in the bright Memphis sunshine.

Surely for Michael Brown, it will hit home when he sees his mother in the stands at Saturday's AutoZone Liberty Bowl between Mississippi State and Central Florida.

This time two years ago, in December 2005, before they put on a Mississippi State uniform, Bailey, Ducre and Brown faced extraordinary circumstances that normally don't confront kids barely out of high school.

But it's because that trio of players were able to walk through the fire, to withstand the test of character, it's exactly why Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom wanted each of them on his team -- Bailey, now a reserve junior defensive end, Ducre, a backup sophomore running back and Brown, a starting junior offensive tackle.

&quot;A lot of guys have been through adversity, a lot of them have lost parents, and I think we found strength from each other,&quot; Croom said.

&quot;We're a no-nonsense, hard-working disciplined type of program,&quot; Croom said. &quot;So when guys ask to transfer into here, like Tim and Christian and Mike, that tells me they know what we're about. And that tells me to some degree that these guys have the work ethic and character to fit in.

&quot;They all have become a big part of this football team.&quot;

Won't you come home, Tim Bailey?

Two years ago on Christmas Day, Tim Bailey was crossing his fingers and saying his prayers. He was three days away from ending almost a year's stay in Iraq, a member of the Mississippi National Guard called to active duty in January 2005.

He had played a year of junior college football in Mississippi and got offers from State, Alabama, Ole Miss and Texas A&amp;M.

Before he had a chance to sign, he was deployed to Camp Shelby in August 2004 for training.

As his tour in Iraq as a fueler and truck driver was coming to an end, 30 miles south of Baghdad, he wanted to get home and resume his life, and his football career.

&quot;They (the Iraqis) were shooting mortars at us all week before Christmas and the day after Christmas,&quot; Bailey said. &quot;They know when it's our national holiday. They know there's a lot of activities going on, so they want to mess that up.&quot;

Bailey's last major assignment came on Dec. 23. The mission was to take supplies to Baghdad.

&quot;That last month, we really didn't want to go out on any mission, but we still had to,&quot; Bailey said. &quot;It turned out to be a three-hour trip there and back. A suicide bomber had hit a convoy, and it kept us out there a couple of extra hours. It could have easily been us.&quot;

Bailey made it home, found a school and a coach he loved in Mississippi State and in Sylvester Croom. In his second year for the Bulldogs, he has 24 tackles, including three for losses, as well as six quarterback hurries.

Out of the eye of the storm

On Aug. 29, 2005, a very rude lady named Katrina turned Christian Ducre's life upside down, as well as the rest of South Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

When Hurricane Katrina sliced into the coast, between New Orleans and Biloxi, it hit with winds of 125 miles per hour. But with a massive storm surge and levees bursting all around New Orleans, the flooding was devastating.

Ducre was a freshman running back at Tulane University, serving a redshirt season. As Katrina whipped into New Orleans, the Tulane football team evacuated to Jackson, Miss., then to Dallas.

Meanwhile, Ducre wondered about his family in Lacombe, La., which sits on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain across from the New Orleans suburb of Metairie.

Finally, Tulane settled in the north Louisiana town of Ruston, the home of Louisiana Tech, where the Tulane players shared dorms, class, meals and practice facilities while playing all 11 games on the road.

So when the season was finally over, when the fall semester was over, Ducre headed home for the Christmas holidays to find ...

&quot;Our house was gone,&quot; he said. &quot;We had 6 feet of water, so we had to live with what we had. We stayed in a FEMA trailer.&quot;

There was an escape, though.

&quot;We spent Christmas in North Carolina with my aunt,&quot; Ducre said. &quot;It was all pretty tough, we were thankful that everybody was alive. Everybody made it through the storm.&quot;

Still, it was hard to be optimistic, especially for Ducre. Katrina had darned near put Tulane out of business, like the rest of New Orleans, and he felt he probably should transfer to a more stable program.

He signed with Mississippi State for the 2006 season, and was granted immediate eligibility because Tulane had dropped his academic major.

Ducre barely played last year, but he has been a pleasant surprise this season. He has formed a solid one-two running back punch with starter Anthony Dixon, rushing for 467 yards and three touchdowns, including a huge victory-clinching 34-yard TD run at Kentucky.

&quot;Christian has been a lot better than I expected,&quot; State running backs coach Rockey Felker said. &quot;I'm very proud of him.&quot;

Mama comes first

Michael Brown had it all planned out. He was one of the best high school players in talent-rich Georgia, so it made sense he'd be the same way when he signed with Florida in 2004.

After all, he couldn't resist the bubbling enthusiasm of Gators' coach Ron Zook, a master recruiter who was hard to turn down.

But it wasn't too far into Brown's first season when he was redshirted that Zook's team lost to Mississsippi State and then first-year coach Sylvester Croom. Such a loss was seen as totally unacceptable, so it was announced Zook was being fired effective at the end of the season.

So when new coach Urban Meyer came in for the 2005 season and brought at all new staff, Brown didn't connect. He didn't play a single snap, and that was hard to take.

But it got worse.

&quot;My mom was real sick back home (in the Atlanta suburb of College Park),&quot; Brown said. &quot;She eventually had some tumors removed. It was a real hard time. I'd never been through something like that. It really hit me strong.&quot;

&quot;I was away from home, and I didn't feel like I was at home at Florida. So when I came home for Christmas (in 2005), I was just thinking the whole time that I wasn't going back to school. I was going to stay home and help out my family.

&quot;I've never had a Christmas like that. It was confusing. I didn't know what was going to happen with my mom. And I knew since I was part of the Zook recruiting class, I didn't know about my future.&quot;

Yet when the New Year rolled in -- as often happens -- there's a sense of clarity and optimism. Brown didn't go back to Florida, staying home to help his mother recuperate.

&quot;I was at the house the whole spring, taking care of my mother, doing a little school and working out, part time school to keep eligibility,&quot; Brown said.

&quot;It gave me a whole lot of time to think. My mom told me, 'You always wanted to play ball. You should go back and pursue your dream.'

&quot;I wanted to go back to the SEC. I prayed, keep God first, asked God to guide me to the right place and He did.&quot;

Because Brown had dropped out of Florida to take care of his mother, the NCAA granted an eligibility waiver midway through last season after he transferred to Mississippi State.

And even though his old teammates at Florida won the national championship, he said he never regretted making the move to Starkville to play for the Bulldogs and Croom.

&quot;I still have a lot of players on Florida's team that I keep in contact with, and I'm happy for them,&quot; said Brown, who earned second team All-SEC honors this season. &quot;But coming to Mississippi State was the best move for me.&quot;